The Northern Minnesota DNR Conservation Officer reports for the week highlighted a significantly slow start to the deer archery season. The warmer temperatures are thought to be the cause of the slow season start, as well as some dense fog early in the morning has been affecting it as well. 

Numbers for the early part of bear hunting season are also down this year so far. As of Monday, there have been 1650 bears harvested, down about 1000 total bears from a year ago.

It’s important to note that last year’s numbers were extremely high due to a lack of natural food sources, but this year, so far, natural food sources have not been an issue according to the DNR.